Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni: The Drying of Tears Arc
by crazy4blue
Summary: June 1982: Tragedy strikes the Houjou family as Satoko's corpse is found in the forest. With Satoshi in a heap of depression, Shion tries to comfort him in a relationship. Yet, turmoil occurs when she realizes that Mion is taking the credit!
1. A New Scenario

"_さとしくん…__.__郷子はしねばよかったのに…そうだよ…北条のいのたれからいいね！"_

_-__園崎　詩音_

"_Satoshi-kun… if only Satoko had died! Yes…If one of the Houjous had to die, it should have been her!"_

_-Shion Sonozaki _

Hinamizawa: A village, a quiet settlement, a strong community ran by three great families…and a cursed cesspool of lies and murders dating back to the ancient times where "oni" used to thrive and devour all humans who were in their way.

One Day, the "oni" appeared from the village's bottomless swamp and started a raid. They attacked the villagers, taking each and every life with them. However, the heavens cried out and blessed the village with a god. That god was named "Oyashiro-sama". To bring peace to the villagers, Oyashiro-sama granted them with a human form, so that they could live in peace and harmony with the other villagers.

It seems like a happy ending, yet every decade or so, the demon blood within the humans would awaken, and the demons would attack the villagers once again, only with a desire to feast. The demons would take one human as a sacrifice; the villagers referred to this as being "Demoned away".

They say Oyashiro-sama planned it so that only one sacrifice was to be made…The human's life would end by being tortured and soon having his or her entrails ripped out and feasted upon.

That is the tale that every villager is told. Oyashiro-sama is a deity that is both feared and respected in Hinamizawa; and since the June of 1979, there has been some speculation that Oyashiro-sama has continued to send sacrifices to the demons that lurk within the village, and they deemed this sick ritual "Oyashiro-sama's curse".

However, I never believed that any of it was true.

~ Hinamizawa: June 1982 (Shouwa 57, June) ~

"Satoshi-kun." I whispered, "Satoshi-kun, please, please just calm down."

"How can I?" he asked with tears pouring from his eyes, "How can I be calm when I find _this_ in the middle of the forest!" Satoshi cried as he, Rika Furude, Rena Ryuugu, and myself stared at the corpse of his deceased sister, Satoko. She had large bruises all over her body and a rather large gash on the side of her head. Her aunt, who had yet to show up around in the immediate area, had beaten her. Rika took Satoshi's head into her arms to calm him down, Rena soon did the same.

Satoshi, he was a bright, young man, and about my age. He had short, blonde hair and bright magenta eyes, just like his little sister. He was a member of the ever-so-unpopular Houjou family, a family that was said to be cursed in the village for supporting a previous dam development project that began nearly three years ago. If the project was successful, Hinamizawa would have been flooded, causing the hundreds of villagers to flee higher into the mountains. His mother and father were hated by the villagers, as were their friends, the Furude family. The Furude family was torn apart a year after the death of Satoshi's parents; the husband died of a mysterious disease and the wife vanished into the "Onigafuchi" swamp, the place where the demons were said to live. Those deaths were directly related to "Oyashiro-sama's curse" that happened every June since Showa 54. First, the coordinator for the Hinamizawa dam project was brutally murdered, then Satoshi's parents, the Furude family, excluding Rika, and now Satoko.

"Satoshi," Rika murmured, "I know, deep down, that Satoko wouldn't have wanted to see you so upset." Satoshi continued to bawl his eyes out. It seemed pathetic, but in my heart, that moment was a cry out for someone he loved to hold him.

"Satoshi-kun." I whispered, nudging Rika out of the way and holding him close. He gripped the back of my shirt and stuttered into my ear, "Why, why couldn't she just live, Mion?"

Mion, that was the name I went by. Was I Mion? No. I was her twin sister, Shion Sonozaki. My sister and I are identical, so it's very difficult for those to tell us apart. I didn't live with my sister, instead I attended a private school outside of Hinamizawa due to the fact that I was, indeed, a twin. My grandmother, she despised the fact that I was born, and it was custom to have the youngest twin die by suffocation before its first bath. It is a dreadful story, I know, and how I managed to survive is a miracle in itself. My sister, she was always the "queen". The day I was transferred into the academy, she left my parents to live with my grandmother. Mion was the head of the Sonozaki family, and there was no doubt about it that my family exiled me from ever approaching Hinamizawa.

Yet I escaped that school and began taking my sister's place at her school. Why? At first it was merely for fun, but then I laid eyes on Satoshi, and since then I couldn't stay away from him. He was addicting, his very essence paralyzed my senses to the point that I attacked Satoko due to her obnoxious behavior with him. This attack wasn't the one that put her to death, but it allowed Satoshi to see how I truly felt about his sibling relationship. I couldn't release myself to be Shion, that would be too awkward for him. So, I stayed as Mion for awhile, he seemed to already know a lot about my sister, so I used that to my advantage.

Satoko's death…well…that actually made us much, much closer.


	2. The Drying of Tears

"_Onee-sama, if I may, I would like to act as you again today."_

"_Shion, why do you keep doing this?"_

"_Onee, please…_

_I have my reasons."_

~Hinamizawa: October 1982 (Shouwa 57, October) ~

The walk from Okinomiya to Hinamizawa was bitterly cold. The sky was a dull shade of grey, if grey could get any duller, and the ground was littered with caramel colored leaves. However, not all of the scenery was bad, the leaves still on the trees resembled fire, which was appropriate for it mirrored my fiery passion for Satoshi-kun. Fall was in the air, that was for sure.

_Ding-Dong……Ding-Dong._

The front door slowly opened to reveal a set of bright magenta eyes, sunken cheeks, and soft cornflower hair. I smiled at him,

"Good afternoon, Satoshi." His face slightly lit up,

"Good afternoon, Mion." he stated as he stepped aside, "Please, come in. It's cold."

I did as he said. The old Houjou house was about the same temperature as it was outside, not to mention that it was a complete mess.

Allow me to fill you in. After the events in June, Satoshi's uncle fled the Houjou estate leaving Satoshi-kun all by himself. Without his sister to keep him company, he fell into a state of depression and would often not go to school because of this. Mion said that Rena would often try to cheer him up, but all he would, no, _could_ say was

"If only Satoko lived…if only Satoko lived."

Sad, yes, but I'm sure he'll get passed that.

"Satoshi!" I yelped, "Why do you keep it so cold in here?" He rolled his eyes at me and mumbled,

"The furnace is broken."

"Have you asked for help fixing it?" There was a long pause,

"No."

I heavily sighed,

"Well, I was planning on talking to you in here, but we need to get that furnace fixed." I swiftly grabbed his home phone and began to dial a number. He stuttered,

"M-Mion! Please!"

"Nope," I placed the receiver to my ear, "I don't want you to get sick, Satoshi." I lowered my eyes, "Satoko wouldn't want you to get sick."

That left a bitter taste in my mouth. I never liked Satoko, never ever. She was a whiney little brat who always clung to Satoshi. When I acted as Mion for the first time, I noticed that he was saddened by the fact that his parents were dead. I understood that completely. However, Satoko would whine and cry about how she needed him, and how someone was always bullying her. She was a poison to Satoshi, every day a little bit of him would die on the inside because of her.

"Yes, is Kimiyoshi there?" I asked, "Yes, this is Sonozaki Mion." Satoshi bit his lip and looked away. "Yes, I would like to get a handyman over to the Houjou estate to fix their furnace." His cheeks turned pink,

"M-Mion please."

"Thank you very much!" I squeaked and hung up, "A handyman should be over shortly to fix it for you, Satoshi." He glared,

"Was it truly necessary to get me involved!?" he yelped.

Satoshi, Satoko, and both of the Houjou parents were the center of most of the vendetta held in Hinamizawa. Satoshi and Satoko were innocent, but their parents supported the idea of the Hinamizawa dam project. Because of that, the family was said to be cursed by Oyashiro-sama and that was the reason for their deaths. Since then, Hinamizawa wanted nothing to do with Satoko or Satoshi. Even now, the village has forgotten about Satoko Houjou.

"Calm down," I placed my hand on his shoulder, "they will do it because I asked them." with a smile I took his hand and headed for the door, "While they work on it, let's go for a walk." He agreed to go.

"Don't you love fall, Satoshi?" I asked. Our hands at the time were at our respective sides.

"I guess it's ok." he lowered his head slightly, "I remember when Satoko used to rake up the leave and hide in them. Then when I arrived home from school she would jump out and tackle me." I wasn't really paying attention to his story, my eyes were fixed to his eyes.

"That's nice." I mused.

"Yeah, she always had that bright smile on her face." he bit his lip and a tear slid down his pale cheek, "She would always cry out 'Nii-nii' when she would do that."

"So, how do you think you did on the math test?" I asked. I hated that subject, really, Satoko is not my main focus.

"Uhm," he wondered, "I guess I did ok."

"Good!" I cheered, "I think I may have failed, but ya know! That's just me!" I could mimic Mion's sense of self-confidence almost perfectly. Yes, Onee was always confident about failing. I laughed to lighten the mood…

So far everything was perfect until…

"Satoshi! Mi-chan! Good afternoon!" Rena cried out while running up to us in that utterly ridiculous outfit of hers.

"Hi, Rena." Satoshi mumbled. My expression went from bliss to a sense of dissatisfaction.

"Oh, Rena-chan," I growled, "how wonderful it is to see you."

"This day off is simply wonderful is it not, I wonder, I wonder?" she grinned and swung the basket in her hands from side to side, "I just got back from the junkyard and found the most _adowable_ things ever! Want to see!?" Satoshi simply replied, "Sure."

In mere seconds Rena pulled out several hunks of garbage that were in the category of "Adorable."

"See, See! I found this half-eaten sandwich in a cute little container, this bicycle horn…"

She went on, and on, and on.

"Ah- Rena," I interrupted as my arm went around Satoshi's, "There's a handyman at Satoshi's house fixing his furnace, I bet he'll have some _adowable _spare parts that you could have."

"Ohh!" She squealed and ran for Satoshi's house, "Rena wants to see! Rena wants to see!"

Alone again.

Satoshi looked at our intertwined arms and broke free,

"Uhm," he blushed, "S-sorry." I smiled at him and whispered, "No, no, it's okay, Satoshi. You're warm." He smiled at me,

"So are you."

"Thank you." I placed my arms around his arm once more and started down the path again. The scenery was pleasant, not a single bird was out or any animal whatsoever except for Satoshi and myself. The only sound you could hear were our feet dragging through the dead piles of leaves. Every footstep was simultaneous, like we were one body.

"I'm getting a bit hungry, Mion." he started, breaking the tranquil silence.

"Oh, yes, me too." I sighed and brought my bag to my chest. His curious expression was adorable, so I pulled out my obento that I was planning to eat on my way back to Okinomiya. I did not mind sharing it with him.

"I usually pack big lunches, would you like to share?" He grinned at me,

"Thank you."

Thus concludes my mission for that day. Yes, I had a mission, and that was to bring Satoshi closer to me so that we could possibly start a relationship. We sat down near the park and began to tear my lunch apart. He ate a little bit of everything, and his red cheeks indicated that either he was cold, or that my cooking was amazing.

"This is delicious," he smiled at me once more, "I never knew you could actually cook, Mion. You usually complain about your lunches at school."

"Well," I snickered and swallowed a bit of chicken, "my grandmother usually makes it."

"But you say your grandmother is never awake in the morning." I had to get my story straight; I forgot that Mion talked with him at school behind my back.

"She makes it the night before, that's why it never tastes as fresh."

"Oh, I see." Yes, he bought it! I'm in the clear, as long as I tell Mion what I told him, then my story should stay straight and he wouldn't suspect anything.

"So, Mion, how's life in the Sonozaki household?"

"I've had better days, but it's ok." I bit my chopsticks, hoping he would not ask any more personal questions regarding my home life.

"That's nice."

"H-how is your life. Ya know, being, alone and stuff." My face turned red from embarrassment. "S-sorry, that was inappropriate." My eyes grew wide when he placed his hand on my head and stroked my hair,

"No, no," he smiled and chuckled, "it….it's ok, Mion. You're actually making me feel a little better."

"Really?" I gasped. He placed his hand on mine,

"Yeah, you're making me feel as if I'm still welcomed here." He gripped my hand and his face got closer to mine, "Thank you, for doing this for me today." Before a single thought ran through my head my lips touched his lightly and I whispered back,

"Anytime, Satoshi-kun."

In a split second our bodies were far apart and our faces bright red,

"S-sorry Satoshi! I, I, I don't know what came over me!"

"It's ok, Mion." he touched his lips with his fingers and smiled, "That…that was ok."

Satoshi-kun, thank you…thank you for accepting me.


End file.
